25 January 2018

VIRGIN ISLANDS LONDON OFICE DIRECTOR NAMED POLICY FELLOW AT UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

LONDON, England — The British Virgin Islands’ London Office director, Benito Wheatley, has been selected by the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) as a 2018 Policy Fellow. As the BVI’s United Kingdom and European Union representative, Wheatley will engage University of Cambridge scholars and the CSaP’s network of senior UK government and EU public servants and business leaders in a series of meetings on the future of the UK’s relationship with the Overseas Territories (OT).

Among other things, he will discuss UK-OT relations in regard to security, climate change, natural disasters/recovery, international business and Brexit.

Commenting on his selection as a Policy Fellow, Wheatley said, “It is an honour to be selected by Cambridge as a CSaP Policy Fellow, which is complementary to my role as the BVI’s UK and EU Representative. The devastation caused by the two Category 5 hurricanes in 2017 that hit Anguilla, BVI, Turks and Caicos and other islands in the Caribbean, brought into clear focus the importance of Britain’s relationship with the Overseas Territories. There is an urgent need to comprehensively review UK-OT policy with a view to reframing the relationship at this point in time to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.”

Wheatley is the first official from the Caribbean and a British Overseas Territory to be selected as a CSaP Policy Fellow. He is also the co-chair of the OCT-European Union Partnership Working Party on Financial Services.

He holds a Master of Science degree in International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics and Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Morehouse College (USA). He is also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Institute of Directors (IOD) and an alumnus of CSC Leaders.